


The rails are caught, now

by unluckyCharm



Series: I want more, 'cause I want more [2]
Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Agender Character, Agender Zeke, College/University, Gen, In which the author projects their gender and sexuality issues onto every character, congrats Zeke have fun dealing with dysphoria!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 11:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14568252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckyCharm/pseuds/unluckyCharm
Summary: Zeke didn’t really consider the potential consequences of Troy not going to UofA until about a month after graduation, when Chad randomly showed up at his house to discuss living together.





	The rails are caught, now

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized it took me an entire YEAR to add something to this series ohhhh my god

Zeke was...fine, when he found out Troy had decided to attend UCBerkeley. He was proud of his friend, but he had built up the idea of going to college with two of his best friends and it was hard to let go of that future. He got over it. He let go. His friendship with Troy wasn’t going to end if they were in separate states. Chad took a little longer to get it, and the angst from everyone distracted Zeke from realizing a potential issue of his own, one he was brutally informed of when Chad showed up on his doorstep sometime in June.

“Dude! We have to apply for housing!”

Zeke looks at him oddly, then widens his eyes in concern.

“Chad, housing applications were due months ago! You are way past the guaranteed housing deadline!” He ushers him into the house, heading straight for the kitchen. Maybe chocolate chip cookies could help Chad deal with the pain of realizing he would be living at home.

“What? No, I know, I sent in my application on time.” Chad sits on a stool at the counter as Zeke dumps flour into a bowl. “I’m saying I need your student id stuff so we can apply to be roommates.”

Zeke’s finger slips on a dial, pushing the mixer to maximum power. Cursing, he turns it back down.

Chad squints at him in concern. 

“Are you alright?”

“Fine! I’m fine!” He grabs the milk out of the fridge, pretending his hands aren’t shaking. “I just uh - I didn’t realize we could still choose our roommates! Will altering our applications now lower our chances of getting in to our preferred housing, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on a better deal just to live with me and-"

“Woah, dude, chill." Chad reaches across the island to put a hand on his arm. “Do you- you know it’s fine if you don’t want to live with me." 

Zeke can hear the hurt in his voice and, oh, he didn’t want this, didn’t want to ruin everything before he even had the chance to do it for real, didn’t want to push his friend away before the school year even started. He steps away from Chad, puts the tray in the oven. He sets the timer, looking far more closely at it than he needs to when he says it.

“I’m agender.”

Chad says nothing. Zeke wishes he could stop shaking. He glances up. Chad doesn’t look angry, just confused.

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“Hm.”

Zeke glances at the timer. Despite this painful silence lasting lifetimes, only a few seconds have passed. Chad clears his throat.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zeke laughs nervously.

“I didn’t think it was ever going to come up! You and Troy were going to room together, I figured I wouldn’t be part of the equation.”

Chad looks at him, apology clear on his face. Like Zeke blames him for deciding to room with his best friend.

“And then Troy ditched us.”

“Yeah, he ditched us. And I had already registered with UofA as nonbinary, and applied for gender-neutral housing.”

Chad nods slowly.

“So you can’t room with me, because the school knows you aren’t a guy, so you can’t live in the male dorms.”

“Yeah.”

A grin splits his face.

“Do I have to be nonbinary to live in the co-ed dorms?”

Zeke almost stops breathing.

“N-no, anyone can apply to be-"

Chad looks at him more seriously, hesitant.

“Wait, would that be- are you alright with that? Oh, fuck!” He puts his head in his hands for a second, then looks up at Zeke again, clearly frustrated.

“I didn’t even ask you about pronouns or anything! Did you pick a new name? I’m sorry, dude. Or not dude! Pal! Buddy!”

Zeke can’t help himself: he laughs. It’s a joyous blend of amusement and sheer relief.

“I haven’t figured out if I want a different name, or different pronouns. I don’t really feel connected to any pronouns, really, but I’m used to he/him so I’m just sort of letting people go with that.”

Chad scoffs.

“If you decide you’d prefer different pronouns, let me know. Don’t just go with whatever is easiest for other people.”

Zeke grins.

“Sharpay said the same thing.”

“The same thing?”

“Well, her version of it.”

He groans.

“Warn me next time I’m about to parrot the ice queen. I’ll let it slide this time, because we’re both right, but never again.”

He pauses.

“Wait, she knows?”

Zeke nods.

“And you’re still together?”

“Yeah.”

Chad smiles. 

“I can’t stand her, but I’m glad she seems to be good for you. You deserve someone who cares about you.”

Zeke's hands aren’t shaking anymore. He wonders when that happened. Chad takes a deep breath.

“Well, now that we’ve got that settled, do you want to live with me next year? I mean, applying won’t guarantee that they put us together, but also, I don’t want you to feel like you’re missing out on like,,,having a nonbinary roommate or something. Like, dude, if you were applying to build up a community or something don’t let me stand in your way! We’ll still be hanging out, we’ll still play basketball together. No pressure.”

“I-I’d like that. Being roommates with you.”

Chad smiles. The timer dings. Zeke grabs an oven mitt and turns around

**Author's Note:**

> DID Y'ALL KNOW UNVERSITY OF ALBUQUERQUE CLOSED IN 1986 WITH ONLY LIKE 1000 STUDENTS 
> 
> I looked it up and turns out I'm going to have to design the whole campus MYSELF I was like oh time to check out dorm options, I'm gonna make this accurate as shit!! And turns out everything I write will be accurate, because it DOESN'T EXIST. Every other mentioned college was real and thriving why wouldn't I expect UofA to be??


End file.
